Ethernet networks are typically employed in local area networks (LANs) that include a plurality of network switches. A number of communication protocols have been developed and continue to evolve to enhance Ethernet network performance for various environments. For example, an enhancement to Ethernet, called data center bridging (DCB), converged enhanced Ethernet (CEE) or data center Ethernet (DCE), supports the convergence of LANs with storage area networks (SANs). Other protocols that can be used in a data center environment in conjunction with Ethernet include, for instance, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Internet Wide Area Remote direct memory access Protocol (iWARP), Remote direct memory access over Converged Ethernet (RoCE).
Such networks may include network entities or groups of entities (e.g., data centers) that are connected to various locations via optical fibers. For example, data centers may be connected to separate optical transmission systems such as reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) systems for long-haul transmission of data. Such optical transmission systems include a control plane distinct from the control planes of individual data centers or Ethernet networks to which they are connected.